


AD

by StarryNightLight50



Category: Arrested Development
Genre: Alzheimer's Disease, Drama, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Old Age, One Shot, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-19
Updated: 2018-09-19
Packaged: 2019-07-14 11:21:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16039451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarryNightLight50/pseuds/StarryNightLight50
Summary: Gob's memory is failing him again in the last phase of his life.Warning: not necessarily character death, but it handles the subject matter of death and disease (more specifically Alzheimer’s disease).





	AD

**Author's Note:**

> I'm working on a longer story and it's been a bit of a battle. So, naturally, I got sidetracked and worked on this story instead. I have even more respect for authors of multi chaptered fics now! 
> 
> Writing this was kind of therapeutic for me, as I've seen this horrible disease up close and kept imagining what it must be like for that person. So this is my interpretation. I know Alzheimer’s Disease doesn't necessarily cause death, but this story is based on the premise that Gob's on his death bed. 
> 
> I tend to be drawn towards more psychological themes and want to explicitly state that I never mean to make light of such subjects. If you or someone you know struggles with mental illness, please seek help: you are not alone!

 

‘’He’s waking up.’’

 

You feel groggy and everything hurts, like you’ve been laying in the same position for ages. You blink a few times and let your eyes adjust to the light.

 

‘’Gob? Hey Gobie, how are you feeling? Did you sleep well?’’

 

You want to turn your head towards the person who’s asking you all these damn questions at the crack of…noon? What time is it? And what day? Also, where the hell are you?

 

You’ve woken up in some strange places before, but somehow you get the feeling you are not trespassing here. You look around and you don’t recognize anything, except there are some photo’s…of you and your siblings as kids, and one taken on a boat when you were all adults….Why would those pictures be here?

 

‘’Gobie? Can you hear me?’’

 

You finally turn to the person who’s talking to you. It’s an old man, you guess somewhere in his late 70’s. He has a weird beard. But even though you don’t know him, his presence has a calming effect on you.

 

You nod in response and stare blankly at the man. You wonder why your whole body feels so heavy. You feel like you can’t stand up, so you must’ve had a wild night drinking or something.

 

‘’Gobie, you have some visitors.’’

 

You slowly turn your head away to look around the room. There is a middle aged woman in a business suit and another older man there. You feel like you recognize the old man, but you’re thrown off because everything seems out of context. Who does he remind you of?

 

‘’….dad?’’ You say, although you’re not sure. The man kind of looks like your father, but something’s not quite right.

 

The face fell, looking somewhat insulted that you called him ‘dad’. Which checks out.

 

‘’No, Gob, I’m your…..I’m Michael.’’

 

You don’t know why that seems to be a hard thing to say. You don’t really care who he is, but now you’re thinking about your dad and…

 

‘’Where’s dad?’’ You ask. There’s an uncomfortable silence as the two older men share a look that you can’t decipher.

 

‘’George Sr. couldn’t be here right now, Gob. But Michael is. And so is Maeby.’’ The guy next to you says. Maybe who is here also?

 

‘’Hi uncle Gob,’’ she says and you remember a little girl with lots of curls, just like this woman has. You don’t know this woman, but unlike the Michael-guy she looks you straight in the eye and you already like her.

 

‘’We’re very lucky Maeby could be here today, she’s a famous and busy Hollywood producer you know.’’ The nice man beside you explains.

‘’Yeah. I’ve made quite the comeback after directing uncle Tony’s ‘The Magic Show’-movie. Magic has been 'hip' again ever since. You would’ve loved it! Or did-, or I mean…’’ She seems flustered and you don’t get anything from what she just said.

 

‘’Magic?’’ You repeat the only word that made sense in that whole story.

 

‘’Yeah!’’ She seems to perk up again. ‘’Magic.’’

 

‘’You wanna hear the story again, Gobie?’’ You look towards the speaker, trying to decipher what’s expected of you and you decide to nod slowly. Why do you feel so tired? Didn’t you just sleep?

 

The woman and the beard-man tell an entertaining story about magic and you seem to feel a bit lighter. The Michael-person is very quiet and visibly uncomfortable and/or sad. Why would he stay here if he wanted to go? Were you supposed to do or say something to this man?

 

Suddenly an ostrich appears behind Michael. You think you should be weirded out, but it looks kind of cute. You reach out to pet it.

 

The conversation around you immediately dies down and the old man gently speaks to you. But you don’t care what he’s saying, there’s an ostrich in the damn room, don’t they see it?

 

‘’Banana’’ You say and you’re confused. That’s not the word for what you’re trying to describe, right? But it seems like a good word. Just not the right one.

 

‘’Banana!’’ You almost yell and point towards the animal. Who cares what it’s called, as long as they see it.

 

They look in the same direction, but apparently it’s supposed to be there or something.

 

Beard-man calmly touches your arm and lowers it to the bed.

 

‘’I know Gobie, it’s okay.’’

 

But the tone in his voice and the expression on everyone’s face indicates that it is very much not okay.

 

But you are so, so, tired….

 

\---------

 

‘’Gob? Gobie? Wake up, Michael and Maeby want to say goodbye.’’

 

You feel groggy and everything hurts, like you’ve been laying in the same position for ages. You blink a few times and let your eyes adjust to the light. You slowly turn your head to look around the room. There is a middle aged woman in a business suit and an older man there. You feel like you recognize him.

 

‘’It was so nice to see you uncle Gob,’’ the woman says as she reaches down to peck you on the cheek, ‘’stay out of trouble, okay?’’

 

You nod slowly.

 

The man next to her extends his hand for a handshake, but seemingly rethinks this and goes in for a hug.

 

And even though you don’t know him, you’ve always loved to be hugged, so you let it happen.

 

When you two break apart, the man has tears in his eyes and says: ‘’See you tomorrow, okay? Sweet dreams.’’

 

The man turns towards something beside you. You turn your head to see another man. It’s an old man, you guess somewhere in his late 70’s. He has a weird beard. Somewhere in your stomach you feel…something, like you should know this man, but you don’t. You have a strange feeling of déjà vu, where you feel like you’ve met this man before…

 

‘’Tony, are you sure we can’t help you? We can take shifts? You must be exhausted,’’ the hugger says.

 

‘’Thanks Michael, but it’s alright. I couldn’t sleep at home if I wanted to. I don’t want to miss a moment now that he’s still….awake.’’

 

Something heavy hangs in the air and you have a million questions, like, where are you? Who are these people?

 

Two of them leave, the woman turning around at the door to give you a soft wave. You see something in your peripheral vision and you think it might be a person or an animal or something, but when you look it’s gone. You start to feel overwhelmed and suddenly the Sound of Silence is playing but there’s no radio or tv or-

 

‘’Gobie! Sssht, calm down, come on, breaaaaathe for me okay?’’ The man who you think was called Tony comes to sit next to you on the bed and holds your hand while he breathes with you. And even though you don’t know him, his presence has a calming effect on you.

 

\----

 

The man is talking to you or at you, you don’t know and not everything makes sense, but it’s nice he’s there.

 

Why do you feel so tired? Didn’t you just sleep? You are so, so tired…

 

The man next to you moves, as if he’s gonna get up and you panic, cause everything is weird and scary and you don’t want to be alone and this man makes you feel safe. You grab his wrist forcefully, or as forceful as you can.

 

He smiles weakly, and settles back down, stroking his fingers through your hair.

 

‘’You need to sleep Gobie, I can see you’re tired…It’s okay honey.’’

 

The panic must be visible in your eyes, cause he’s looking at you as though he already knows what you’re thinking.

 

‘’Hold on,’’ he says, and turns towards the bedside table and grabs something. It’s a deck of cards and you’re already intrigued. He shuffles the deck and picks a card, he holds it in front of you. It’s the queen of diamonds.

 

‘’Look, I’m like this card.’’ A second later, the card suddenly disappears and you look on. ‘’Even if It seems like I’m not physically here…,’’ he twists his hand so fast, and suddenly the card is back, ‘’….I never left. You just have to know where to look. It’s misdirection. Hidden in plain sight.’’

 

The man has a sad smile, seemingly remembering something. ‘’You know, you taught me sleight of hand. You’re the best at that.’’

 

That couldn’t be right. You wouldn’t share a magician’s secret, unless…

 

‘’Magician?’’ You feel happy to utter the word, as if that wasn’t something you could always manage.

 

Tony’s face lights up and you immediately feel bad.

 

‘’Yes!’’ He says, hope spread wide in his eyes. You hate this, because some way or another you know that look will be turned into disappointment, as it always does where you’re involved.

 

But, as if he knows, he doesn’t push it and just lies down next to you, holding you. And even though you don’t know him, you’ve always loved to be hugged, so you let it happen.

 

You feel like you might have already drifted off as the man begins to whisper.

 

‘’Gobie…you better enjoy the limelight in whatever kind of magical place you’re going, cause when I go, I’m gonna share that spotlight with you. I’ll learn all kinds of new illusions while I’m here and we can do them together there, okay?’’ He’s not looking at you, but there’s a smile in his voice as he says it. But you also feel your shoulder getting wet, right where his face is. And you wonder if this man needs this hug more than you do.

 

So you move to grab his hand. You don’t know why, it just feels right. He lets you hold him and softly squeezes your hand.

 

‘’I love you, Gob. I love you so much, thank you, for everything,-‘’

 

He goes on, speaking softly as his tears make your shoulder feel damp. And even though, for some reason, you don’t like it that this stranger is sad, you feel warm inside. As if you’re home, even though nothing looks familiar. So you just go with your gut feeling. And you softly squeeze back his hand.

 

The soft, comforting voice of the man next to you lulls you back into sleep.

 

 


End file.
